Design

What is inside the Bawx?

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I am a bit of a minimalist. That does not mean I do not get giddy when I find a unique item that I hope only a few others have, or maybe is even one-of-a kind. I would rather wait for that very special thing, rather than finding a zillion other items that I only partially like and that fill my closet only to be worn once, or not at all. No, I am one to cherish and wear out something I love. Chris often asks me why I get on a trend of an outfit, bag, or a pair of earrings. It is not that I am a creature of habit as much as a creature of comfort. I like something and then I latch onto it, and wear it in nicely.

So when I heard about Bawx, I thought maybe it was just the right thing to share the day after Christmas. Many of you may have gift cards or cash burning in your pockets, ready to hammer it out with other more than crazy people returning their Christmas gifts for a different size or color. I encourage you to wait a bit and think more about your purchase. Do you really need that thing? Or the other one? Or that one? Instead you can buy a cardboard box. Yes, that is what I said. You can buy a cardboard box.

Bawx is for all the possibilities. It originated when two guys started looking at how children play. The result is a company that raises conscious thinking and supports children’s charities. The idea behind it is that often children like to play with the box more than what is inside. I wholeheartedly agree, except maybe if there was an iPhone or iPad in that box. They tend to be kid magnets regardless of the age.

In any case, I hope that Bawx makes you think before you make a mad dash out to Best Buy today. Do you really need it? Will it eventually just collect dust on your shelf? Maybe instead you will buy a Bawx. Prices range from $24.99 to $499. I am intrigued, are you?

#500

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It was about two years ago that I was sitting on a beach in Maui talking to a family member about how I wanted to start a blog. When they asked me: “Well what would you write about each day?” I said: “I think it will be random every day. There are a variety of topics I can see writing about based on my many interests.” I had no idea I would still be writing this blog 500 posts later. Yes, today is my 500th blog post. It is just a few weeks shy of a 2 year anniversary for random olio.

There are days that I cannot imagine how I will have the time or inspiration to write another blog post, and there are other days that I have so many ideas that I often cannot decide what I want to write about for that day. Just to shed light on how often the ideas flow, I currently have 108 “blog drafts.” For those of you reading this that might not be WordPress bloggers, that would be like having 108 draft messages in your email client. Every once in a while I will go to the oldest drafts and see if I can resurrect the inspiration from my original idea.

random olio has been visited from 141 different countries, a shocking statistic for me. The top three are: United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, which makes sense. While I do not know how long I will continue to write blog posts, as long as random ideas continue to pour out of my fingertips, I will continue to share random olios! With appreciation to all who stop by and read a few, and especially to those of you who may have actually read all 500 blog posts. You probably know way too much about me, and potentially think I am insane.

Compostable Diapers – who knew!

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My sister is having a baby soon, so lately our conversations have included the discussion of car seats, strollers, and diapers. I mentioned that no one tells you how much you will truly spend on diapers. Ah yes, the fun part of raising a kid, endless butt wiping many, many times throughout the day. In a recent conversation, my sister told me about new technology for diapers.

The compostable diaper. Regular disposable diapers can take hundreds of years to decompose, and cloth diapers require too much water to wash and reuse. The compostable diaper (I even found ones that are flushable) are diaper inserts that can then be turned into compost. One company will pick up your dirty diapers weekly, and has a commercial grade machine that composts the diapers and turns your babies poo into topsoil for landscaping. Or you can take them out to your own compost bin in your yard (although they say only the wet diapers, not the poopy ones). Your baby will help fertilize your lawn!

Why has this taken so many years to happen? From my research disposable diapers made their debut in 1961 by Pampers. How many disposable diapers are sitting in landfills? Wikipedia says that:

“An average child will go through several thousand diapers in their life…An estimated 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used each year in the US, resulting in a possible 3.4 million tons of used diapers adding to landfills each year.”

Now multiply that times 52 years of diapers and you have 176 million tons of diapers have gone to landfills just in the United States. That is also 1 trillion, 424 billion disposable diapers sitting in our landfills. That is a shit ton of disposable poo. Two of the companies I found are in Northern California, I would be curious to hear if there are similar companies in other parts of the country. Definitely way past time for baby mommas to change the tune and start looking at alternative ways. I do not have the kid yet, but compostable diapers will be on the list.

#putpootogooduse

For further research:

http://www.gdiapers.com/

http://tinytots.com/

http://www.earth-baby.com/p-3-the-earthbaby-story.html

Young Entrepreneurs – Crafty Wonderland

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I wrote yesterday about the artisan markets we went to over the weekend. A big one that happens twice a year in Portland is called Crafty Wonderland. As full, big, and overwhelming it is, I still love the inspiration I gain from interacting with artists and artisans at their finest.

This year they had almost an entire wall with kid entrepreneurs. As I began my venture into Crafty Wonderland I saw these kids (mostly girls) sitting at their tables, sketching, knitting, and painting while their finished products were up for sale. While we did not end up purchasing any of the kid products, I got a bit nostalgic and teary for these young artists. What courage they must have to get together enough art to sell, and set up a table in the Oregon Convention Center in a very large event room. I wish such events were available to me when I was a kid. I think it might have inspired a lot of ideas for me and encouraged me to continue to make art at such a young age.

Kids inspire me. They have had fewer opportunities for someone to tell them they are not good enough. Imagine what it must feel like to have a two-day event where individuals can purchase your works of art. Inspiring. If only we had the same untainted sense that kids have, maybe we would be more vulnerable to put our own artistic endeavors into the public eye.

Thank you, Portland kid artists for being bold and brave and putting yourselves out there. You inspired me this past weekend to continue to care less of what other people think, and to open the door to my studio, to paint and play, and be free.

 

Peeing in Portland

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Over the weekend, I dragged Chris to a few holiday artisan markets. I usually do not buy much, but find I gain inspiration from seeing other artists share and sell their work. One of the markets is called: ADX Gifted. ADX is a design and prototyping facility in Portland that allows for metal, wood, industrial sewing machines, and 3D printing. My kind of place! I have for a long time wanted to do small woodworking projects using a lathe and sander. I have memories of my middle school wood shop class, and while I secretly loved to cook and sew, I also secretly loved playing with wood.

I digress. The reason for this blog has nothing to do with sand paper or wood. I found a book at the ADX Gifted market that I wanted to share. It is called: “The Best Places to Pee.” Yes, I did. It is a book about the best bathrooms in Portland. A fun idea, eh? There are pictures of each bathroom from the author’s list of 51 places to pee. Let me explain further.

I have an app on my iPhone called: Sit or Squat. I have it so that anytime I am out or traveling I can at any time look up where there might be a bathroom. Sit or Squat asks its users to add new bathrooms to the map using crowd sourcing for all of us that often have “gotta go.” I was the child on a road trip (my family’s version of a road trip was an hour away) who would ask if we could stop to go to the bathroom a zillion times. I am sure my father cringed every time I asked, knowing it was going to take five times longer to get there. Eventually he just told me I had to hold it. Sometimes that was successful, other times we had a mess on our hands.

So it is definitely appropriate for me to have a book on the best bathrooms in Portland. It shows a little snapshot of the quirkiness, adventure, and colorful life of Portlanders. You can view a few images of Portland bathrooms from the author’s website. I think you will find Portland is keeping it weird!

#lovemycity